I Sold Bao to Support Seniors and Won a $75,000 Scholarship

Simon Fraser University, engineering
TD Scholarship for Community Leadership
$70,000

When I was 13, in Burnaby, B.C., I witnessed a violent racist attack against two seniors in my community. I was looking for ways to heal myself after that so I started making bao, a traditional Chinese steamed bun that my grandmother had taught me to make. It’s one of my favourite comfort foods. I started inviting friends and seniors from my community to make bao with me, first at home and then, as our group grew, in commercial kitchens. I worked with Canada Caring Community Alliance, or CCCA, a non-profit that supports racialized seniors in Burnaby, to start selling them at the BC Dumpling Festival. We used the funds raised to help Asian seniors who were victims of violence.

In 2023, I started a festival called Bots and Buns, combining my two favourite things: bao and robotics. (I was also part of a robotics team in high school.) It was a multicultural festival with a robot demonstration, bao for sale and musical performances by local musicians, and I even played bass in a rock band with the mayor.

As a young child, I played the violin, but in high school I learned the drums and bass. It was my high school music teacher who encouraged me to apply for the TD Scholarship for Community Leadership. The application involves writing a couple of short essays and reference letters. Fitting my passion for bao, music, robotics and engineering into just a few hundred words took a lot of finessing; my family and my music teacher were really helpful during the process. I also needed two reference letters. 

A few months later, I was invited to interview for the scholarship. To prepare, I reviewed my written application and noted areas I could expand on in the interview. I was really nervous, but the interviewers, who included a past TD scholarship winner, made it feel like a casual conversation. One question they asked was, “Where do you see yourself in 20 years?” I said that while I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, I knew I wanted to help people. 

A couple of months later, I found out I had won the scholarship through an email. I’m now an engineering student at Simon Fraser University, hoping to specialize in biomedical engineering. In a design course in the fall semester, I got to build a robot. I’ve continued to stay active in my community. I’ve run small community-building events, worked with victims from the car attack on the Lapu-Lapu Day festival in 2025, and continue to raise funds by­—what else­—selling bao.

This story appears in the 2026 edition of the Ultimate Guide to Canadian Universities. You can buy the issue for $19.99 here or on newsstands.